A team from the Chinese government has been banned from attending the lying-in-state of Queen Elizabeth II.
According to Politico, House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle turned down a request for access to Westminster Hall because of Chinese penalties against five MPs and two peers.
There, Queen Elizabeth will remain in repose until her funeral on Monday.
Nine Britons, including seven lawmakers, were subjected to travel restrictions and asset freezes by China last year after they complained about Beijing’s treatment of Uighur Muslims.
Due to that, Parliament was closed to the ambassador of China to the UK. This ban has since been extended to a group of people who wanted to pay their respects during Queen Elizabeth’s lying-in-state.
This prohibition is unlikely to improve the already tense relations between the UK and China.
China’s vice president is anticipated to attend Monday’s state funeral, which will take place at Westminster Abbey, across the street from Parliament.
The Lord Great Chamberlain, who is chosen by the monarch, and the speakers of the Commons and the Lords would share the authority of Westminster Hall, according to the parliamentary rulebook Erskine May, which states that Queen Elizabeth II agreed to this arrangement in 1965.
Although there is no mention of access restrictions for events like lying-in-states, all three parties “ordinarily” agree to give invitations to foreign dignitaries to speak to both Houses in Westminster Hall.
The Chinese ambassador to the UK was informed by Sir Lindsay and Lord’s Speaker Lord McFall in September that he could not visit Parliament due to Beijing’s sanctions. The Chinese government at the time criticized the restriction as “despicable and cowardly.”
Seven MPs and Lords, including former Tory ministers Tim Loughton and Iain Duncan Smith, requested the Foreign Secretary to revoke President Xi of China’s invitation to attend the Queen’s burial on Thursday.
